Moreno Recovers Nicely From Unplugged Opening

Rita Moreno’s concert act, which she brought to the Luckman Theatre at Cal State L.A. Saturday, got better as the evening went along.

It began with a blooper. After an announcer introduced her with great fanfare, the curtain rose to reveal her standing in a dramatic pose, her back turned to the audience so that all eyes were directed at her svelte legs. She looked ready to replace Tina Turner in the Hanes ads. But when she started singing, she wasn’t audible.

She handled the moment with good humor. She stopped the music and shouted to the wings, “Wait a minute--this ain’t on,” referring to her microphone headset. When a technician came out to fiddle with the battery pack strapped around her waist, Moreno announced, “This man is diddling with my battery.” After the sound was restored, Moreno said it was her fault--she had picked up the wrong mike.

Still, when she began again from the top, the opening “Strike Up the Band” sounded not only anticlimactic but also a bit shaky.

At least the incident provided a glimpse of her gracious personality. The rest of the first half was impersonal. She performed with professional poise, but it was by-the-book. Even a medley of three songs from “Phases,” which she called her upcoming solo show about the phases of love, was bland.

Moreno’s voice sounded strained during “If I Loved You.” She introduced that song with the observation that it wasn’t heard much anymore--she was reminded of it the other day in an elevator. Yet it’s been heard nightly in recent years as part of the popular revival of “Carousel.” It was one of several curious over-generalizations.

The second half was much better. Her grown daughter Fernanda Gordon Fisher joined her to perform “America” from “West Side Story,” and Moreno told amusing stories about her own gallant Puerto Rican mother as she introduced a lovely arrangement of the theme from “Concierto de Aranjuez,” sung in Spanish. Fresh off a stint as Norma in London’s “Sunset Boulevard,” Moreno sang that show’s “With One Look” very convincingly. She closed with a medley of four big Broadway numbers that allowed her to belt with the authority of a true diva.

Michael Asher led a five-piece backup band. The lighting appeared to have been designed by someone who just discovered color.